DOWN TO THE WIRE ON ABORTION LEGISLATION

A fascinating scenario is developing as lawmakers head back to Jefferson City for the final two weeks of this year's legislative session. Start with the fact that Gov. Mel Carnahan is incontestably the most pro-abortion governor in Missouri history.

Chewing up hour after hour of time for floor debate in the Missouri Senate is House Bill 427, this year's bill to ban the gruesome form of infanticide known as partial-birth abortion. Known as the Infants Protection Act, the bill is sponsored by state Sens. Ted House, D-St. Charles, and Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau. HB 427 passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 129-32. It enjoys wide, bipartisan support in the Senate as well, with somewhere between 22 and 28 votes expected on final passage in the 34-member chamber.

Notwithstanding this broad support, final Senate passage is by no means assured. Led by Carnahan -- and his supporters among the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood -- a tiny group of four senators seems determined to prevent a vote for as long as possible. Taking advantage of the Senate's tradition of unlimited debate, the gang of four spent most of Thursday's 16-hour Senate session in dilatory tactics, endless talking and the offering of amendment after amendment to the bill. Right before filing out at 2 a.m. Saturday, exhausted senators were told to return for a highly unusual Sunday-afternoon session on the same bill.

Supporters of HB 427 are amazed at how determined the governor and his allies are to prevent the bill from getting to his desk. With a deadline of this Friday for passage of the $16 billion state budget, the potential for a complete shutdown of the session now looms. We hope supporters of HB 427 hold fast. If the session collapses, Missourians will know to place the blame where it belongs: on the governor and his extremist supporters.